


To Our Past As We Started Anew

by Sealy



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst and Feels, Dream Smp, Evil Wilbur Soot, He just wants whats best for wilbur, Kinda, Manberg Festival, Minecraft, NO DEATHS, PHIL IS HERE, Phil loves his brothers/children, Traitor TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), WE LOVE DADZA, Wilbur Soot Needs a Hug, Wilbur Soot-centric, Wilbur goes through why he went crazy, and that is not blowing everything up, idk people use both, l'manburg, manburg, no romantic relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:48:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26934622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sealy/pseuds/Sealy
Summary: It's funny how things often don't go as one would expect. Like it's the world trying to screw someone over or like it'stryingto drive someone crazy. Wilbur never expected to be in this position. This position where he's starting to go mad. Maybe it's already happened. He doesn't think so, but everyone around him was looking at him like it had.So what if he'd just blown up the festival? Of course he did. He was the bad guy now, right? That's what was being made of him. Was it crazy of him to play out his role? And yet, here he was, Tommy holding a sword to his neck, Dream not far behind, and Techno being tended to by Niki after their fight a few minutes ago. The festival was in ashes, but nobody had died. He'd done his role... But...How did he get here again? What drove him to this..? When had this pressure in his head started to become something worse?This isn't a super good description, tbh, but it works! Basically, this is Wilbur looking back on his time in the SMP, going over what changed him and made him turn into Villbur. Hope you enjoy :D
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Wilbur Soot, Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot, Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & Phil Watson, ItsFundy & Wilbur Soot, L'Manburg Citizens, Wilbur Soot & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Comments: 19
Kudos: 298





	To Our Past As We Started Anew

Wilbur had joined the Dream SMP, in the beginning, to play with friends. To chill. Maybe cause a little chaos on the way, because let’s be real, this is the dirty crime boy we’re talking about! Of course there would be mischief. But really, it began with a wish to play with friends and have fun. He never expected that this is where it would bring him. 

As he stood in the ashes of the Manburg Festival, Wilbur honestly wondered how it got to this point, but at the same time he knew. He should’ve seen this coming. The pressure he’d put on himself was bound to make him snap eventually. Wilbur just smiled at his thought, and started chuckling once Tommy stood in front of him, disappointment and sadness obvious in his expression. Yeah, going crazy had definitely not been on the list of things he expected from joining the server. 

They had prepared for him. Tommy had told them all of what he had planned, betrayed him as Wilbur had expected. They’d all lived, even Schlatt. Whatever. A war was bound to go down anyway. In his preparation for the explosion, Wilbur had found Fundy’s bunker and Tubbo’s books. He knew now that Fundy was actually against Schlatt, and while that was all well and good, it didn’t help him now. Wilbur was far too gone and he knew it. 

It had started, Wilbur thought, as soon as he’d joined the server, to be honest. As soon as he joked with Tommy about the drugs. As soon as he built the Camarvan. As soon as he’d decided to make a nation, as soon as he had become responsible for the lives of others, of his friends, that was where it began. The responsibility had been a lot at the time, and the war had caused a lot of stress, but at that point, he’d been nowhere near snapping. Wilbur was used to being the responsible one of his friend groups, especially considering he worked with Tommy all the time, but not like this. Not when lives were on the line. 

Eret betrayed them, and perhaps that had strained him a bit more, made him more paranoid, but it did not break him. Wilbur stood proud before Dream and told him that he would rather die than join the SMP’s land. The TNT went off, they fled, they fought, they won, and they lost, and Wilbur never broke. And while Dream offering them their freedom in return for Tommy’s discs had been a slight sigh of relief for Wilbur, the treaties and paranoia haunted him from then on, as well as the guilt. 

Wilbur’s decision to hold an election was made from his first realization that perhaps he’d been in the wrong, not that anyone had realized that. Now, what he’d said to Tommy was true, it _had_ been in arrogance as well. Wilbur didn’t think he’d lose, even if he’d believed that he might’ve been wrong in making his friends fight. 

And then, Schlatt was allowed back on the server. And then, his arrogance led him to let a coalition government exist. And then, they lost the election by 1 percent. Perhaps that’s where one of the heaviest strains lied. 1 percent. A single percentage had lost him everything. How amusing. 

Schlatt exiling them left him scrambling for anything to hold onto. That hold lied with Tommy and Techno, in the end. Not with Tubbo, who stayed with Schlatt, not with Fundy who had betrayed them (though he knew better now), not with Niki who was stuck in Manburg, and not with Eret or BadBoyHalo who had been trying to gain their trust before Tommy had picked a fight with Bad a few days before. 

That all changed when he’d heard Techno say he was only with them because he wanted to fight. Because he wanted bloodshed. Because he wanted a challenge. Looking back on it, Wilbur wondered if that had hit him harder than he originally thought. Techno was one of his closest friends after all, had been for years, and he wasn’t even there simply to help them? Wilbur would’ve dropped everything to help his friends, he’d thought, and the noise clouded his mind. 

Then, Wilbur thought the only one with him was Tommy. He felt alone and he felt overwhelmed, but no one saw it. No one saw how he struggled, and that made him feel even more alone. 

The day before he fully snapped, he spent the entire night awake, holding his legs to his chest, thinking back on everything. If anyone had seen him, they’d have been concerned. He was sure he looked dead inside. Similar to how he felt. 

The realizations hit him like a truck as soon as Schlatt announced the festival. Schlatt was _actually_ trying to lead a country. Wilbur had never given himself the opportunity, all he’d done was fight in a war, and that was all his people had known him for. Schlatt had the opportunity to lead Manburg to peace. Wilbur had led them to war. _He_ was the bad guy here. And _oh_ how that hit him. He couldn’t stop himself from asking Tommy what he thought, and it only spiraled from there. His mouth worked faster than his mind and the words he’d unknowingly been thinking since their exile had come spilling out. It needed to be destroyed. It needed to be blown to bits. Schlatt couldn’t be a better leader than him, not after everything they’d fought for. Not after all the blood he’d shed for a country he made and never got to lead. 

Was it petty of him? Maybe. Was it jealousy? Perhaps. Either way, he had snapped by this point, and he knew there was no going back. He continued loudly, trying to convince Tommy that they should blow everything to kingdom come, but in the end Tommy never came around, and Wilbur felt betrayed. He felt utterly alone. 

Then he contacted Dream, who provided him with TNT, and Wilbur did nothing but laugh at not only the irony of the situation, but the pure ridiculousness of it all. As he had said, Dream only wanted them to be weak, he wanted them to be nothing more. Dream was smart in that regard, Wilbur thought. Then, Dream protected him from Tommy when he’d wanted to take the TNT away, and for a moment Wilbur thought maybe someone was on his side, but then he threw his head back and laughed at the thought. No, no, he was alone. That much, he was sure of. 

Dream left not long after that, and in the days following, Tommy kept attempting to stop Wilbur and he also told Technoblade what he had planned. After that, it was _both_ of them against him. Techno continued to get in his way, to try and calm him down, but nothing worked. Now, on this day, the day of the festival, they had actually fought, sword against sword, and Wilbur had lost, but not before the TNT had exploded. 

Now, with Tommy holding a sword up at him, Techno being treated by Niki, and Dream approaching him, mask covering his expression, Wilbur sat in the rubble and ashes of a festival that was doomed from the day it was announced. 

Wilbur chuckled, amused, “The one who provided the ammunition is going to get rid of me then, hm?” Wilbur laughed again, looking at Dream, who had apparently decided he was against Wilbur’s plans now. Oh well, he’d expected this. Dream only cared about the ‘peace’ on the server. Couldn’t have a TNT maniac running around, now could he? Oh the hypocrisy was beautiful, Wilbur thought. 

“You’ve gone too far, Wilbur,” Dream sighed, hand tensing around his sword on his waist. Dream looked tired, even if Wilbur couldn’t see his face. Fair enough, Wilbur thought, all the server had been since he joined was war and tense situations. 

“I suppose I have, yes,” Wilbur agreed after a moment, throwing those around him off. 

“What..?” Niki quietly questioned in the background, pausing in bandaging Techno’s leg after Wilbur had gotten a good swipe during their fight. 

“Oh, I know what I’m doing. I’m not totally crazy, don’t misunderstand. I know I’ve become the bad guy,” Wilbur smirked. To the others, this seemed worse than it would’ve been if he’d gone completely mad. Wilbur continued, “I’ve been your vassal now, Dream. I’ve done it. Manburg and Pogtopia are no more. You’re welcome.” 

Dream shook his head, “No, Wilbur. This has gone on long enough, all these wars and all this destruction. You will be leaving the SMP, Wilbur. Someone has offered to take you in if you have nowhere to go, but you’re not welcomed here for now.” 

Wilbur’s smirk dropped, at first wondering who it would be, but then he just stared at the man for a moment before he burst out laughing. Who cared where he ended up now. He’d done what he’d wanted. Everyone shifted on their feet, uncomfortable with how Wilbur had changed, but also worried for him at this point. 

A message appeared in chat, one completely unexpected to Wilbur, which made him stop laughing. “Oh,” his voice was small, with a hint of a shake as he read the message. 

_Ph1lza has joined the game._

“Wilbur,” Phil’s familiar voice blanketed him, making him take a shaky breath. It wasn’t a greeting. It was a call. Wilbur was supposed to go to him, to leave voluntarily. Distantly, he noted that Phil didn’t sound disappointed, or hurt, or anything negative. He was just there, like he’d always been, caring for him. 

Wilbur’s mouth dropped open a little bit, before he closed it again with a click of his teeth. Making eye contact with Phil would be impossible, Wilbur thought, but he did so anyway, and as soon as the familiar green of his clothing entered his vision, Wilbur’s mind cleared. The noise that had been overwhelming him for the last week began to dissipate. His ears stopped ringing, his eyes stopped straining, and his body grew heavy, so, so heavy. Wilbur took a deep breath and said nothing as he stood up and made his way over to Phil. No one stopped him. 

“You good, mate?” Phil asked, voice full of concern he didn’t deserve. 

Wilbur said nothing, did nothing but grab Phil’s sleeve and let him lead him away. 

“You think he’ll be okay?” Wilbur heard Tubbo ask as Phil led him off to the world’s spawn, a gateway to the main server which branched into each individual’s server. 

No one answered him for a moment, before Tommy spoke up, “Yeah. Yeah, Tubbo. I think so.” 

Suddenly, by his side, pink invaded his vision and Wilbur looked over, eyes wide upon seeing Techno. Techno, who had gone against him just a few minutes ago, who fought him, who never gave up on trying to stop him... Who he had hurt. 

Wilbur’s eyes teared up a little before he took another shaky breath, blinked the tears away, and with his open hand, grasped Techno’s robe. Techno said nothing, but nodded at Phil, who grinned at the man. 

“Let’s go home, Wil,” Phil smiled softly. Wilbur just nodded while Techno snorted at the dramatics, before they continued walking away. 

Home is what Phil said, but they didn’t have a world to go to that Wilbur would especially call home to them, not since they stopped playing on SMP Earth, but Wilbur decided that it didn’t matter. To him, home was a people, rather than a place. Maybe someday he’ll get them all back, but for now, he was fine with his home lying in Techno and Phil. 

Wilbur clenched his hands into Techno’s robe and Phil’s sleeve, gave a defeated, but content smile that no one saw, and started to hum a tune that made everyone in the SMP freeze except for Phil, Techno, and those who didn’t know its meaning. 

Wilbur let out a shaky breath once more, “I heard there was a special place… Where men could go and emancipate,” he smiled a little, looking up to the sky, “the brutality and the tyranny of their rulers.” 

Not seeing it, Tubbo had choked back a sob and Tommy had looked to the ground sadly. Eret was supporting Niki who was also holding back some sobs, hands covering her mouth. Fundy was biting his lip, ears flat against his head. 

“Well this place is real, you needn’t fret. With Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo… and Eret,” Eret looked up fast at the change in lyrics, mouth dropping open, “It’s a very big and not blown up… L’Manburg.” 

Tommy’s breath hitched. Wilbur hadn’t said L’Manburg’s name in over a week. It had sucked, but now... 

“M-... Our L’Manburg,” he changed the lyrics again, making the other’s eyes soften at the action, and they joined in for the final chorus. 

“You ready?” Phil asked after giving them a moment of silence. 

Wilbur simply nodded, and in a flash of white light, the three were gone. 

**Author's Note:**

> The idea of changing the L'Manburg anthem to 'Our L'Manburg' is taken from @ATiredShota on Twitter and the title is taken from the song 'An Ode To L'Manburg' by Beetlebug! If either of them care that I used these ideas, I'll come back and change it, no questions asked, I just thought they both fit well into what I wanted to write.
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed :D  
> This fic is around 3,000 words shorter than my other MCYT fic lol, and I tried my best to lengthen it as much as I could, so I can't say I'm completely happy with it, but I am pretty happy with it.  
> See you all around! <3


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